


The Heartless Sorcerer

by imaginary_golux



Series: Fractured Fairy Tales [12]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Animal Death, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 20:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9843689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_golux/pseuds/imaginary_golux
Summary: Young soldier Finn is off to rescue his comrades from the heartless sorcerer who has turned them all to stone. He is brave and clever and well-trained, but his greatest asset might just be his ability to make friends...Beta by my ever-wonderful, ever-delightful Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw.





	

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, there lived an old lord with seven young soldiers to serve him, and each was braver and more skilled than the next, but the seventh and youngest was the finest young soldier anyone had ever seen, and his liege lord and his shield-brothers doted upon him and knew that he would be a great hero someday.

For a time they all lived peacefully together, but at length the old lord heard of a certain matter which concerned him, and he went to his seven soldiers and bade the six elder ones to make ready to march out, for his sister required their assistance as soon as might be; but the youngest he kept with him, saying that he was yet too young for such adventure. So the six soldiers marched out in good array, until at length they came quite near the castle of a certain sorcerer, who seeing them became wroth that they dared to trespass upon his lands, and at once turned them all into stone.

After some time, the old lord grew anxious that his soldiers had not returned, and at length the youngest soldier, whose name was Finn, prevailed upon his liege to let him go and look for his comrades. The old lord gave the young soldier a sack of provisions and the only horse left in the stables, which was so old that Finn led it instead of riding, and sent him off with blessings and good wishes. So Finn traveled slowly onward until one day he came upon an injured raven lying beside the road, which begged him that he might give it some food.

“What I have, I’ll share,” Finn said at once, and gave of his food to the raven, who ate until it was strong enough to fly again.

“When you need me, call, and I shall aid you,” the raven promised, and flew away.

A little ways farther along the road, Finn came upon a salmon flopping beside a river, which cried out to him, “Put me back into the water, I pray you, of your mercy!”

“Of course,” said Finn at once, and put the poor fish back into the stream, and when it had swum up and down and taken a few deep gulps of water, it said to him, “When you need me, call, and I shall aid you.”

Some ways farther along the road, Finn’s ancient horse stumbled and fell, and Finn could see, to his immense dismay, that it had come at last to the end of its strength, and could go no further; and indeed even as he took the saddle from its back, that it might be more comfortable, it breathed its last. So he went on on foot; but it was not so far until he came upon a great gaunt grey wolf lying beside the path, which said to him, “Stranger, I beg you, give me food or I will perish.”

“Food I have little,” said Finn, “but my poor horse has died, not so far from here; give me leave to carry you there, and you shall have all you desire.”

“No harm will I do you,” said the wolf, and so Finn took it up in his arms and bore it back down the road to the body of the horse, and the wolf ate until it could stand upon its own feet again. Then it bowed to him, and said, “As you have borne me to my salvation, let me bear you where you wish to go.”

“I am going to look for my companions, who have not yet returned nor sent word,” said Finn.

“Ah,” said the wolf, “I know well where they have gone; for there is a certain sorcerer who turns to stone all those who trespass on his lands, and on the road beside his castle there are many new statues of bold soldiers.”

“Then I must go and save them,” said Finn stoutly, and got upon the wolf’s back, and it bore him swiftly across the hills until they came to the castle of the sorcerer, and there upon the road beside it were the stone forms of the soldier’s lost comrades.

“What debt you owe me is paid,” Finn told the wolf. “You may leave these lands, and find safety from this foul sorcerer; I shall go on alone.”

“Nay, I shall wait here,” said the wolf. “Call for me if you need me, and I will come; for the price of my life is not so small that I shall count it paid just yet.”

“Very well,” said Finn, and he took his courage in both hands and went boldly into the castle. He wandered through many rooms, finding all of them quite empty, until at last he came to a room at the heart of the castle where there sat a very beautiful woman, whittling beside the fireplace, with a woeful look upon her face.

Finn hailed her with the most courteous words he knew, and the woman whirled, startled, and said to him, “Oh, stranger, you are in the greatest danger! For this is the castle of a sorcerer, who has taken me captive because he wishes to marry me, and who turns all who trespass on his lands to stone - flee, I beg you, before he returns and discovers you.”

“Nay, I shall not flee,” Finn said, “for he has turned my comrades to stone, and I have promised our lord I shall save them if I may; I shall strike a blow against this foul sorcerer, and if the gods grant me strength I shall strike him down, and all his works with him.”

Then the beautiful woman shook her head sorrowfully, and said, “You are as brave as any hero, but the sorcerer cannot be killed with the blow of a sword. He has hidden his heart, and without it he is invincible.”

“Still I must try,” said Finn, and his courage gave the beautiful woman hope.

“Then I will aid you,” she said. “Come, hide here beneath my bed, and I shall see what I can do.”

So Finn hid himself beneath the beautiful woman’s bed, and not a moment too soon, for bare moments later the sorcerer returned to his castle in a great wind, and came at once to his captive. Now for many days the beautiful woman had spoken bitterly to the sorcerer, and railed against him, and cursed him; but now she smiled upon the sorcerer, and stretched out her hands in welcome, and spoke so sweetly that the sorcerer grew hopeful that his captive had at last come to love him; and she brought him food with her own hands and danced and sang for him, and made much of him, until the sorcerer was lulled completely into great delight, and asked her what he could give her, because he was so pleased with her.

“You have already given me everything I could want,” she said, “only - only I should so like to know where your heart is.”

“Why, it is buried under the doorstep,” said the sorcerer indulgently, and the beautiful woman thanked him a million times for telling her, and doted upon him, so that he went away smiling.

And in the morning, when he had left about some sorcerous business, Finn and the beautiful woman dug up the doorstep, and found nothing under it, and the beautiful woman swore most foully. But then she and Finn went out and gathered many flowers, and made garlands of them, and heaped them upon the doorstep, and Finn hid himself under her bed again, and they talked and laughed together, and became very fond of each other, until the sorcerer returned once more.

“Why, what is all this about?” he asked the beautiful woman - whose name, she had told Finn, was Rey, and who was a princess and whose mother was the old lord’s sister.

“Why,” said the princess Rey, “it is in honor of your dear heart that I have grown to so adore, that I have adorned the doorstep.”

“You are a silly creature,” said the sorcerer. “My heart is not under the doorstep.”

“Oh!” said Rey, and looked as though she would burst into tears. “But then you have lied to me!”

“Oh, do not look so sad - it is not under the doorstep, but it _is_ in the cupboard,” said the sorcerer, and immediately Rey grew merry again, and laughed and danced and made much of the sorcerer, until he went off to his bed half-drunk on the thought that she had come to love him.

But when Finn came out from beneath her bed she threw herself into his arms, and he praised her courage and her good sense and her marvelous acting, and told her how clever she was until she fairly glowed with his words.

Then in the morning, when the sorcerer had left, they went together to the cupboard, but they found no heart within it. Then Finn went out and gathered many more flowers, and they made new garlands, and decorated the cupboard until nothing could be seen of it but blossoms, and Finn hid himself again beneath the bed, and he and Rey talked for long hours, and laughed together, and became so much fonder again of each other that it was a marvel indeed.

But when the sorcerer returned and found the cupboard decked in flowers, he laughed, and said, “You silly creature, that is not where my heart truly is.”

Then the princess Rey made herself so _very_ agreeable to him, in dancing and singing and bringing him food with her own hands, and in flattering him so generously that he became quite drunk on the praise, that at last he said, “I have hidden my heart so that no hero shall ever find it and slay me. Far to the south there is a lake, and on that lake lies an island, and on that island there is a tree, about whose roots a dragon lies, and in that tree there is a chest, and in that chest there is a rabbit, and in that rabbit there is a duck, and in that duck there is an egg, and in that egg is hidden my heart - and even if someone should slay the dragon and the rabbit and the duck and retrieve the egg, it must be smashed in front of me, or it shall never break, and then I shall be well able to destroy the fellow before he does me any harm.”

“Truly,” said Rey, “that is well hidden, and I applaud your cunning and caution.” But inwardly she despaired.

But the next morning Finn said to her, “Though it cost me my life, still I shall slay the sorcerer and win your freedom and my comrades’ lives.” So he departed from her with many embraces, and when he had left the castle, he called to the wolf, who came at once to him.

“I must go to the lake in the south, where lies the island of the dragon,” he told the wolf, and the wolf nodded its great grey head and replied, “I know the place; come, get upon my back and I shall bear you there.”

So Finn climbed upon the wolf’s back, and the wolf bore him over hill and dale, and across many rivers, until at last they came to a great lake as blue as the sky, and in the middle of that lake there rose an island. “Now,” said the wolf, “I shall swim across to yonder island; but do you have your sword ready in your hand, for the dragon will be upon us as swiftly as thought.”

So Finn took his sword into his hand, and the wolf swam across the lake to the island; and true to the wolf’s word, as soon as they gained the rocky shore, the dragon swooped upon them, and its scales were bright as armor and its fangs as long as swords, and it roared so loudly that all the mountains about the lake echoed with it. But Finn was in no wise intimidated, but raised his sword and cried defiance at the monster, and when it swooped down, strode to meet it. Long they battled upon the rocks and onto the grass, and Finn was sore wounded by the dragon’s claws; but at last the wolf leapt and caught the dragon’s wing in its jaws, and when the dragon turned to rid itself of the wolf, Finn struck well and true, and his sword reached its heart, and the dragon fell dead between them.

Then Finn fell to his knees, and if it were not for the faithful wolf he would have poured out his own lifeblood beside his defeated enemy; but the wolf came to him at once, and licked his wounds so that they sealed themselves, and bore him on its back to the water that he might drink; and for a day and a night Finn lay in a stupor, and knew nothing but pain and darkness, but at the end of that time he rose again, fully healed, and thanked the wolf a thousand times for his aid, saying, “Surely your debt to me is paid.”

“Nay,” said the wolf, “the price of my life is not so small that I shall count it paid just yet.”

“Then I thank you,” said Finn, “for without your help I should find it hard indeed to finish my quest.”

The tree at the center of the island was as tall as a mountain, and its trunk as broad around as any three oak trees of the forest, and nearly Finn despaired. But then he bethought him of the raven, and called for it, saying, “Oh raven, come to me, for I am in great need.”

Then at once the raven came winging towards him, and asked him what it could do to aid him, and Finn told it that at the top of the tree there was a box, which he could not reach, for the tree was too tall. “That I can do,” said the raven, and at once it flew upwards, as high as a mountain peak, until it reached the chest at the top, and seized it in its claws and bore it down again. And Finn took his bow from his back, and prepared himself, and beside him the wolf made ready, until at last when the raven came low enough Finn called out to it to drop the box over a patch of rocks, which the raven gladly did.

Then a rabbit came leaping from the shattered box, but as fast as the rabbit was, the wolf was faster still, and it caught the rabbit in its jaws and broke its neck, and tore open its stomach with one claw; but instead of blood, a duck rose from the rabbit’s corpse, and beat its wings frantically to escape. Yet not for nothing was Finn the finest of the soldiers the old lord had ever trained, and as soon as the duck emerged he had his bow trained upon it, and before it had risen even so high as the first branch of the tree, it fell dead with his arrow through its heart.

Then Finn drew his dagger and cut open the duck, and from its stomach drew the egg; and he thanked the raven exceedingly, and got upon the wolf’s back, and the wolf bore him back across the lake. But as the wolf swam, the egg grew slippery in Finn’s hand, and slid from his grasp into the water, and almost Finn despaired. But as they gained the shore he bethought him of the salmon, and called for it, saying, “Oh salmon, come to me, for I am in great need.”

Then at once the salmon emerged from the lake, and asked what it could do for him, and Finn explained that there was an egg at the bottom of the lake, which he needed most desperately. “That I can do,” said the salmon, and at once it swam away downwards, and in less time than it took Finn to breathe thrice it rose again with the egg in its mouth. Then Finn took the egg and tucked it away where it might not fall from his grip again, and thanked the salmon exceedingly, and got again upon the wolf’s back, and the wolf bore him across hills and dales and rivers until they came again to the castle of the sorcerer.

Then Finn said again to the wolf, “Such service you have done me as I cannot describe; whatever debt you owe to me is paid.”

“Nay,” said the wolf, “the price of my life is not so small that I shall count it paid just yet.”

“Very well,” said Finn, and went again into the castle of the sorcerer, and brought the egg holding the sorcerer’s heart to the princess Rey, who received him with many embraces.

“Truly you have suffered at his hands more than I have,” said Finn, and gave the egg to the princess Rey, who took it with great joy; and then again Finn concealed himself beneath her bed, and they waited with breathless patience for the return of the sorcerer.

At last the sorcerer returned, and came at once to the princess Rey, and demanded of her that she should give an answer as to when they should be married. And the princess Rey said that she was eager for their wedding day, but she could not invite her people, as the road was so crowded with statues; and therefore she could not agree to be wed. Then at once the sorcerer waved his hand and the spell of stone was broken, and from without the castle there arose the sound of many voices crying out in wonder as they were freed.

“There,” said the sorcerer, “now there is no impediment to our marriage.”

“No,” said the princess Rey, “save that you kidnapped me and have held me captive these many months, and I would not have you if you were the king of all the world and all other men dead but you,” and so saying she drew the egg from out her pocket and threw it to the stone floor, and it shattered into a thousand pieces and the sorcerer’s heart with it, and he fell dead at her feet.

Then Finn came out from beneath the bed and embraced the princess Rey, and she said to him, “The sorcerer I would not have, but _you_ , my beloved, I would marry, if you will have me.”

“More gladly than I can say,” said Finn, and kissed her.

Then they came out from the sorcerer’s castle, and Finn’s comrades waited for him among the crowd of freed statues, and the wolf with them; and they all returned to the old lord’s holdings, where he made them welcome, and at last the queen herself came to be reunited with her daughter, and the princess Rey and the hero Finn were wed, and the rejoicing went on for many days and nights.

Now when the lovers had been married a year and a day, the wolf came to his old friend, and said to him, “Have I ever been aught but a great and good friend to you?”

“Truly, you have been the best of friends to me, and whatever debt you owed me has been repaid many times over,” said Finn.

“Then if I ask you for a service, will you do it for me?” asked the wolf.

“Anything, though it cost even my life,” Finn swore.

“Then take up your sword and strike off my head,” said the wolf; and Finn cried out and protested that he could not do such a thing to one he loved so dearly, but the wolf was unmoved. “If you love me, you will do as I ask,” he said, and so at last Finn saw that there was nothing for it, and drawing his sword he struck off the wolf’s head in one blow, though the tears came to his eyes so that he could barely see where to strike.

Then as the body of the wolf crumpled to the floor, from the blood arose a man, as fair as the dawn, and he bowed to Finn, and said to him, “The same sorcerer whom you slew bound me into this form, until such time as one who loved me should draw blade to slay me, and so for my freedom I give you thanks, my friend; my name is Poe, and I shall be your friend and companion all my days.” And Finn embraced him, and he Finn; and then when the princess came to see where her beloved lingered, they told her all, and she embraced Poe likewise, and wept upon him for that he had been so foully enchanted. Then as he had no other place to go they made him welcome gladly, and gave him the place of highest honor at their table and kept him always at their sides. So they all lived happily until the end of their days.

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the fairy tale "The Giant With No Heart," which I read on the Fairy Tale Tuesday blog.
> 
> I am, as ever, on tumblr as imaginarygolux. Drop on by!


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